


Starting Fresh

by pirate_smile



Category: Hatchetfield Universe - Team StarKid, Nightmare Time - Team StarKid
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Forever and Always spoilers, Spoilers, minor mentions of blood and violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-19
Updated: 2020-10-19
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:55:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27099202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pirate_smile/pseuds/pirate_smile
Summary: An in-between moment from "Forever and Always", three months into Paul and Emma's relationship
Relationships: Paul 23/Emdroid
Comments: 3
Kudos: 21





	Starting Fresh

**Author's Note:**

> Spoilers for "Forever and Always" from Nightmare Time episode 2

Paul 23 found that compared to the rebellion, the things he had to worry about now were a lot less troubling.

First, he had the tattoo, but he didn’t think that would be a big deal. It was currently January, so he wouldn’t have any need to wear short sleeves for at least five months. That would probably give him enough time to come up with some bullshit reason for getting the number “23” tattooed on his lower arm. Looking back on all of Paul 0’s memories, he didn’t think anyone in Hatchetfield knew Paul Matthews well enough to get suspicious of him getting a tattoo. Except for maybe Emma, but she wasn’t living with Paul 0 yet, so there was no need to worry about that potential weirdness.

The tattoo was Paul 23’s most immediate problem, but he was more worried about Emma. Paul 0 loved her already, but would Paul 23 be able to love her? Sure, he had all of Paul 0’s memories, including when they met, all the times Paul 0 stumbled over his coffee order around her, their first date, visiting Emma’s nephew at Thanksgiving, etc. And sure, he was genetically identical to Paul 0 in every way, even down to how his teeth were arranged in his mouth.

But Paul 23 couldn’t help but wonder if all of that meant that he really was the same person as the original Paul. On the one hand, that was how cloning worked, wasn’t it? Exact copies of people? On the other hand, he _had_ just led a clone uprising deep in the basement of CCRP. Would Paul 0 have done that? Would he have been capable? Paul Matthews was chosen as the clone host because of he was a perfect blend of a lack of ambition, a fear of authority, and a barely-better-than-average work ethic. He was the kind of guy who would never lead a rebellion against his overlords, right?

As Paul 23 adjusted the knot of his tie in front of the bathroom mirror before his first day as just Paul, he didn’t worry about not knowing the way to the office. He didn’t worry about Bill or Ted or anyone at the office noticing something off about him. He didn’t worry about not knowing how to run Paul 0’s statistical analyses. All of that fell under the umbrella of a day in the life of Paul Matthews, and Paul 23 was an expert in Paul 0’s daily routine.

Instead, he worried about the trip to Beanies. If there was anyone who could get some hint that something was amiss with him, it would be Emma. And yeah, Paul 23 really didn’t want that, but he was more worried about not loving her. One of the biggest motivators that drove him to rebel in the first place had been her. The fondness with which Paul 0 must have looked back on the times he’d spent with her had made those memories so heartwarming and beautiful to Paul 23. To really meet her for the first time and feel nothing might break Paul 23’s heart.

Paul 23 pushed that thought aside as he opened the front door to CCRP. He knew it was ballsy to walk back into CCRP so willingly and so soon after he’d escaped – hell, it had been less than 18 hours since he’d washed Paul 0’s blood from his hands – but it would have been risky, bordering on stupid, to avoid the place. Besides, the whole point was to take back a life he deserved, and part of that life was health insurance.

The elevator doors dinged open, and Paul 23 saw the tech support office of CCRP for the first time. There wasn’t much to see, though. It was just a plain office, with cubicles and desks. It was exactly how he remembered it. He could see the back of Bill Woodward’s head from within his cubicle.

“Morning, Bill,” Paul 23 said as he sat down at Paul 0’s – now his – desk beside him.

“Morning, Paul,” Bill returned.

Just Paul. It was nice to hear.

Tech support was probably the least shady part of the whole business, Paul 23 reasoned while booted up his computer and got to work. Paul 0 must have reasoned the same thing, because he had known at least some of what CCRP was up to. He had no idea about the cloning business, but the time travel research and the robotics and weapons development were all on his radar. He just hadn’t cared enough about his job to consider the implications of all of those things happening in several locations across the country, or the further implications of this location being CCRP HQ. Another reason Paul Matthews was the perfect candidate for a Clone Wars-style workforce.

All things considered, Paul 23 didn’t want to throw too much of a fuss about it, either. He’d worked too hard to get this far, and there was no way he was jeopardizing it. He was just one man. Sure, he’d been able to secure himself the kind of peaceful, happy – or at least satisfactory – life he’d always wanted, but he couldn’t do that for his 22 older iterations, let alone any that might come after.

Paul 23 had very briefly worried that his first day as Paul might feel like performing, which he hated, but as he greeted Charlotte when she got into the office and did his best to brush off Ted without being obvious about it after he had held Paul 23 up for about 10 minutes, that fear melted away. Being Paul felt natural, but more importantly, it felt right. If he didn’t think about it too hard, Paul 23 could imagine that the week he’d spent as a prisoner slave to CCRP in a sea of other Pauls was just a really weird dream he’d had.

The moment of truth, he knew, was Beanies.

1:25pm rolled around, and Paul 23 felt himself dragging in his work. Even if it hadn’t been a critical part of Paul 0’s daily routine to take his break at 1:25pm to go to Beanies, Paul 23 probably would have done that, anyway. So, he did.

All of Paul 23’s fears about taking on this new life were reaching a fever pitch again as he walked to Beanies. He just really wanted this part of Paul 0’s life to be like he remembered. If it wasn’t, Paul 23 worried the rebellion might not have been worth it. What would difference be between mining a rare metal from underneath the moon’s crust and typing up reports if he didn’t have something worthwhile to come home to?

The bell above the door to Beanies jingled as Paul 23 walked in, and, as usual, it was pretty barren an hour and a half after the lunch rush. There were only a few stragglers left, sipping warm drinks that had probably gone cold or cold drinks that had certainly melted by now while they typed away on their laptops or read a book. He took a moment to breathe it all in before he walked up to the register and saw her standing there wiping down the counter. Most of the memories Paul 23 had of seeing Emma at Beanies started like this; with her at the counter with a rag and nearly no one else around.

“Hi, how can I help you?” she asked dully, not looking up from the countertop.

“Just a black coffee,” he said. “Nothing in it.”

As he spoke, she met his eyes and smiled. “Sure thing.”

A tidal wave hit Paul 23 right where he stood. He thanked whatever god the original Paul had believed in that Emma had turned her back to make a fresh pot of coffee, because he could distantly feel the dumbfounded look on his face. Looking at Emma again – for the first time – felt all kinds of amazing. Paul 23 felt like he was both falling in love for the first time and all over again. He felt both weightless and grounded.

Paul 23 had worried that he wouldn’t be able to love Emma because he hadn’t gotten Paul 0’s feelings, but when he looked at her, all of the memories of her sprang up like tulips in the spring. He remembered how beautiful, funny, strong-willed, and smart she was, and… he was in love. Paul 23 was only a little over a week old, and the original Paul might as well have been for as much experience as he’d had with love, but Paul 23 was certain. He loved Emma Perkins.

“We’re still on for Friday, right? Your completely original plan to woo me with dinner and a movie?” she snarked from the other side of the counter.

That snapped Paul 23 back to reality. “Of course. Unless you wanted to do something else?” God, he was already worried about impressing her. That was fast.

She chuckled as she scribbled on his cup liner. “I don’t know, Paul. Last time I picked our date, you ended up throwing up in the bathroom of the Birdhouse after just an hour.”

He remembered that. The original Paul had tried not to embarrass himself at the bar by attempting to keep up with Emma drink for half-drink. That had been a mistake. “Yeah, sorry, but I did mention I’m a lightweight.”

“I didn’t think anyone could be that much of a lightweight, Paul. You had, like, a drink and a half.” And those drinks had been beers, but Emma thankfully left that detail out as she recounted this story for the three other people at Beanies.

She started pouring his coffee. “I’m gonna let you choose our activities for a while, though, just to be safe.” She smirked up at him and his heart lurched.

“Then, yeah. Dinner and a movie.”

“Awesome. $2.89.”

He paid for the coffee, and when their fingers grazed as she handed him the cup, a jolt of happiness zipped through his body.

“See you then,” Paul 23 said. “Well, see you here, tomorrow, then again on Friday, and then I’ll see you then.”

Emma smiled and shook her head. “Get outta here, nerd.”

“Have a good day,” he said as he walked out of Beanies.

“You, too,” she returned, grabbing her rag from where it hung around her shoulder.

As Paul 23 sipped his coffee, which was very bad, he felt as though the rebellion had finally ended. He had the life that he’d always wanted. He had an amazing girlfriend, a good group of work friends plus Ted, and he had a job that he was good at and paid his bills. And he’d only had to kill one guy to get it. Not bad.

And after living that life for a day, Paul 23 finally felt like it was really his. He finally felt like all of the fighting hadn’t been in vain. It was just like he’d said back at the basement: he was just as much Paul Matthews as any of the others were, including Paul 0, and he deserved this chance as much as any of them.

That night, as Paul 23 changed into his pajamas, he didn’t worry about some other Paul clone getting the same idea and coming for him. CCRP was definitely going to discontinue the Paul clones after his stunt, even if they didn’t think he’d actually escaped. As his eyes caught the tattoo on his arm of the number “23”, he didn’t worry about fining an explanation for it. That would come eventually.

And as Paul 23 settled into his new bed, he didn’t worry about not liking his new life. Sure, it wasn’t perfect, but it had a hell of a lot going for it, and for any Paul Matthews, that was well worth fighting for.

**Author's Note:**

> Look, I am pro Paul 23, and I am also pro Paul 23 and his wife the Emma Android doing some small acts of murder in order to live happily together, so I just had to get this out. Real Paul and Emma will for sure have their chance.


End file.
